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"Canadian protest shuts down Coulter"



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 24th, 2010, 05:03 AM posted to rec.travel.usa-canada
mike
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default "Canadian protest shuts down Coulter"

so only left-wing liberals have the right to speech and to criticize
but not the right-wing, conservative? The left-wingers are bigoted to
intellectual diversity...

news.google.com

Canadian protest shuts down Coulter

Casey Curlin and Victor Morton

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, on a speaking tour of Canada
this week addressing political correctness and freedom of speech,
found herself silenced Tuesday when organizers canceled a speech at
the University of Ottawa after deciding it was too risky to stage the
event.

Miss Coulter's Tuesday speech -- the second of three planned across
the country -- was called off after raucous demonstrations involving
about 2,000 people outside the speaking hall and an evacuation of the
University of Ottawa building when someone triggered a fire alarm. The
event was cancelled shortly after 8 p.m. -- before Miss Coulter even
had a chance to speak.

"It's a public-safety issue," Sgt. Dan Beauchamp told reporters in
Ottawa.

When reached Tuesday night by The Washington Times, Miss Coulter said
"this has never happened before" in all her years of public speaking,
which have included frequent pickets and a couple of attempted pie
attacks.

But she came out swinging, denouncing the University of Ottawa as a
"bush league" institution.

"I go to the best schools, Harvard, the Ivy League and those kids are
too intellectually proud" to threaten speakers. At the University of
Ottawa, "their IQ points-to-teeth ratio must be about 1-to-1," she
said.

The outspoken Miss Coulter had already sparked controversy on the tour
when she all but dared Canadian authorities to try to muffle her under
the nation's anti-hate codes, which have been criticized on both sides
of the border as stifling free thought and free speech, particularly
from conservatives. Her tour is formally titled Political Correctness,
Media Bias and Freedom of Speech.

Before Miss Coulter's arrival in Canada, Francois Houle, the
University of Ottawa's provost and academic vice president, sent her a
letter reminding her of Canada's reasonable limits on freedom of
expression, and the possibility of criminal charges, an action Miss
Coulter openly criticized.

"I hope they do try to prosecute me," Miss Coulter told host Michael
Coren on his self-named TV show on the family-oriented CTS network.

After the cancellation, Miss Coulter blamed Mr. Houle, saying "I've
been scheduled to give three speeches in Canada. And guess which one I
couldn't? The same one where the university sends me a warning. I
think we have an excellent hate-crimes case" against the provost,
whose name she said "in English, Frank A-Hole."

Even before last night's events, the conservative firebrand diva had
tried to turn the tables on Mr. Houle, accusing him of prejudice and
fomenting hate against conservatives.

"The provost simply believes and is publicizing his belief that
conservatives are more likely to commit hate crimes in their speeches.
Not only does this promote hatred against conservatives, but it
promotes violence against conservatives," she told the Ottawa Citizen
newspaper.

She gave her first speech Monday, at the University of Western Ontario
in London, and gave what Mr. Coren called a standard Ann speech
criticizing liberals, gay-rights activists, the mainstream media and
the Obama administration.

At the speech, a Muslim girl took offense to what she called Miss
Coulter's suggestion that if Muslims can't fly on planes because of
anti-terrorist profiling that she could take a camel. Fatima Al-Dhaher
told Canadian media that she felt she had been stabbed in the heart,
which Mr. Coren found to be an overreaction.

"The people who actually stab you are those Muslims who throw acid in
women's faces if they do not cover their heads, who deny them basic
health care and education, who forcibly circumcise them, who make them
walk behind men and cover themselves, who murder their daughters if
they date non-Muslims, who blow up aircraft and schools, who
decapitate young Christian Indonesian girls on the way to class," Mr.
Coren wrote in his blog, Coren's Comment.

Canadian lawyer and free-speech activist Douglas Christie said free
speech in his country is limited by Canada's criminal code, which
allows for the punishment of those that publicly promote hatred
against any identifiable group. Identifiable groups are defined is any
section of the public distinguished by color, race, religion, ethnic
origin or sexual orientation.

He said the rule creates a double standard since prosecutions
typically happen of speech opposing liberal opinions.

"There's really no restriction on liberal free speech, said Mr.
Christie," general counsel for the Canadian Free Speech League.

Mr. Coren also cited the issue of liberal views and expressions being
more accepted in Canada, and although he said it is better than it has
been in the past, it is still overwhelmingly one-sided.

Mr. Christie also cited a section of the Criminal Code which allows a
judge to remove hate propaganda, defined as any writing, sign or
visible representation that advocates or promotes genocide or the
communication of which by any person would constitute an offence, from
a computer, basically giving judges the authority to take down Web
sites.

Canadian law also empowers human rights commissions at both the state
and federal level to investigate claims of hate speech and refer cases
to quasi-judicial tribunals that can impose fines or issue restraint
orders without even the protections of criminal due process.
Complaints have been filed against such conservatives as National
Review columnist Mark Steyn and Mr. Levant.

Mr. Christie said free speech is necessary for citizens to be
knowledgeable about all sides of issues.

"Thank God for Ms. Coulter because she sparked interest in this
debate," he said.

Miss Coulter's visit has sparked criticism, though. Susan G. Cole, a
columnist for Toronto's weekly entertainment tabloid Now, wrote that
she could not believe there was more outrage over Mr. Houle's letter
than over the invitation to Miss Coulter to speak at a Canadian
university.

"Is this really the kind of discourse that university campuses should
be promoting? I don't think so. It's a university's responsibility to
create the kind of environment where people can think and learn.
Coulter's speech does the opposite." Ms. Cole said.

Miss Coulter has frequently been accused by liberals of fomenting
hate, citing her cutting sense of humor and cracks about Islam, Mr.
Obama and some of the Sept. 11 widows.
  #2  
Old March 24th, 2010, 05:53 PM posted to rec.travel.usa-canada
Bill in Schenectady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 86
Default "Canadian protest shuts down Coulter"

On Mar 24, 12:03*am, Mike wrote:
so only left-wing liberals have the right to speech and to criticize
but not the right-wing, conservative? The left-wingers are bigoted to
intellectual diversity...

news.google.com

Canadian protest shuts down Coulter


Coulter is a moron. However shutting her down only makes her louder.
Let her speak and be done in by her own words. Of course her
discourse has nothing to do with intellectualism.
  #3  
Old March 24th, 2010, 10:57 PM posted to rec.travel.usa-canada
K
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 54
Default "Canadian protest shuts down Coulter"



Bill in Schenectady wrote:
On Mar 24, 12:03 am, Mike wrote:
so only left-wing liberals have the right to speech and to criticize
but not the right-wing, conservative? The left-wingers are bigoted to
intellectual diversity...

news.google.com

Canadian protest shuts down Coulter


Coulter is a moron. However shutting her down only makes her louder.
Let her speak and be done in by her own words. Of course her
discourse has nothing to do with intellectualism.


Well stated, Bill. To me, the conservatives seem a frightened bunch who are
clinging to obsolete 'values' to make sure that we never leave the 1950s.
It's really sad.

As for free speech, what did the so-called Tea Party try to do to health
care meetings? And why were the same people in so many states, screaming,
so 'their' congressmen could not make a case for OR against?



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---
  #4  
Old March 25th, 2010, 04:07 AM posted to rec.travel.usa-canada
SMS
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 899
Default "Canadian protest shuts down Coulter"

On 24/03/10 2:57 PM, K wrote:
Bill in Schenectady wrote:
On Mar 24, 12:03 am, wrote:
so only left-wing liberals have the right to speech and to criticize
but not the right-wing, conservative? The left-wingers are bigoted to
intellectual diversity...

news.google.com

Canadian protest shuts down Coulter


Coulter is a moron. However shutting her down only makes her louder.
Let her speak and be done in by her own words. Of course her
discourse has nothing to do with intellectualism.


Well stated, Bill. To me, the conservatives seem a frightened bunch who are
clinging to obsolete 'values' to make sure that we never leave the 1950s.
It's really sad.


Coulter's been marginalized because you can only go so crazy in your
rhetoric before people pay no attention to you. That's why she had to go
to Canada in the first place, her schtick doesn't play well in the U.S.
anymore.

While we may not agree with Canada's law on hate speech, other countries
have similar laws. Coulter planned the whole thing in order to get a
reaction, including telling the Moslem woman to try riding a camel if
they wouldn't let her fly.

As for free speech, what did the so-called Tea Party try to do to health
care meetings? And why were the same people in so many states, screaming,
so 'their' congressmen could not make a case for OR against?


The tea baggers made a lot of noise, but ultimately no one took them
seriously.
 




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